Azerbaijan violin piano concert, The Hague, the Netherlands

The Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in collaboration with Diplomat Magazine Violin and Piano recital, November 21st, 2016 At the residence of Ambassador Efendiyev Dr. Eugene Matos, violin Nezrin Efendiyeva, piano

SELECTED REPERTOIRE Willem de Fesch Larghetto from the Violin Sonata op.8 n.1 (The Netherlands) A. Piazzola : Oblivion for Violin and Piano (Argentina) S. Rachmaninoff : Vocalise for Violin and Piano (Russia) F. Amirov : Ballade for Violin and Piano (Azerbaijan) Elegy for Violin and Piano (Azerbaijan) J. Alberto Hernandez: Serenata for Violin and Piano Sarambo for Violin and Piano (Dominican Republic)

Nezrin Efendiyeva Azerbaijani born Belgian pianist, film music composer and singer-songwriter was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, into a musical family.

Her grandfather, Fikret Amirov, was a prominent Azerbaijani and Soviet composer. Her grandfather was the first to recognise her musical talent, suggesting she join the special musical school of Baku.

In 1994 she took part in the 1st Festival of Young Pianists in Baku and won an honorary diploma. A year later (1995) she moved with her family to Brussels where she entered the Belgian capital city’s Royal Conservatory to the piano class of Eugene Moguilevsky. She graduated from the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music in2001, with the Superiour Diploma in Piano.

During her studies, she revived some of her grandfather’s almost forgotten compositions, giving a second premiere for Amirov’s Double Concerto for Piano and Violin in 2002 with the Izmir Symphony Orchestra in Turkey– more than 50 years after it was written and forgotten after its first performance in 1948. In 2003, she won third prize at the international piano competition in the Spanish city of Huesca, drawing praise in the local Press for the “sensitivity and clarity” of her playing of Chopin’s C Minor Nocturne.

A passionate devotee of Baroque music, Nezrin re-entered the conservatory of Brussels in 2004 to follow the harpsichord classes of Frederic Haas. She then founded a Baroque ensemble using original instruments that she named “L’Estro Barocco” in homage to Vivaldi.

A second string to her career really took off in 2008 after meeting Gayle Gow, a Brussels-based American mezzo-soprano who became her singing teacher. She has now written close to 20 songs and arrangements and, once more, revived some of her grandfather’s works. In 2012, she performed Fikret Amirov’s Double Doncerto and Piano Concerto on the Arabian themes with Azerbaijani Symphony Orchestra, on Amirov’s 90th Anniversary. In December 2013, Azerbaijani Congress in Benelux awarded Nezrin with a "Crystal Note" Award, for the outstanding achievements in music by an azerbaijani artist living in Europe. In October 2013 Nezrin wrote the score for the American filmmaker Maria Ibrahimova's " Letter to God", which became the beginning of a new direction in Nezrin's musical career, that of a film music composer. In September 2015, "Letter to God" won Audience

Winner Award and «Best of the festival showcase» at the Prestigeous DC Shorts Film Festival in Washington DC a documentary named « Yvonne’s Letters », a CNN and EURONEWS broadcasted TVC « Baku 2015: Make History with Us » and a series of 8 promotional documentaries named « On the Road to Baku » created for the Baku 2015 First European Games followed that collaboration with Maria.

Currently, Nezrin is working on a variety of projects, including film music scoring as well as piano and vocal performances.

Eugenio Matos is a career Dominican diplomat. He is currently assigned as Minister Counselor of the Dominican Republic Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after five years of a diplomatic post in The Hague (2009-14) including Chargé d´affaires, Alternate Representative in the ICC, OPCW and special accreditations at the ICJ for the Dominican Embassy in The Hague.

Dr. Matos started his advanced violin studies in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At age 17 he already joined the Dominican National Symphony. He received master classes from recognised USA violinist Eugene Fodor.

Eugenio was founder, as the first violin of the University of Santo Domingo Chamber Orchestra. He has performed in prestigious theatres around the world, such as in Argentina, in international orchestras in Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil, USA, and Canada amongst other countries.

When finishing his high school in Santo Domingo, he was selected as a young violinist for a full scholarship at the Conservatory of Music of Leningrad. In 1985 Uruguayan President Julio Maria Sanguinetti welcomed him during an official cultural trip representing the Dominican Republic in the occasion of the first International Youth Orchestra in Montevideo.

During his stay in the Netherlands, he received a special personal invitation from former President of the International Criminal Court, Honorable Judge Song Sang-Hyun to perform a concert for the diplomatic corps and dignitaries from the United Nations. In 2015 he was invited to perform with the Congress Orchestra of Buenos Aires. The renowned Canadian publication Ottawa Citizen Magazine referred on Eugenio in 2008 as follows: Eugene Matos, an overachiever…but does not know it¨, for his multitask diplomatic attainments. Together with selected ambassadors, he launched in 2013 the very first diplomatic magazine in the Netherlands´ history, Diplomat Magazine, the fastest growing publication of its kind in Europe, now under the direction of Drs. Mayelinne De Lara.